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Transistor
Transistor
2014 | Action/Adventure, Role-Playing, Strategy
New form of strategic fighting (2 more)
Very cool female protagonist
Plot held interest
Felt short (1 more)
Wished there was more to explore
Intriguing mystery with enjoyable gameplay
This game was a thrill. I bought it during a Steam sale, but it's definitely worth full price if you're wondering.

The story was the perfect amount of ambiguous, but still easy to comprehend. The vague terms refer more to concepts than specifics. Like the Process, for instance, which is what the enemies you fight are called. There is never really an explanation given as to why the Process exists (though I am replaying it right now to try and see if I missed any reading material that might shed light on that), but the goal of takeover is clear.

Red is such an interesting character too. Without a voice, she uses the mysterious Transistor weapon to fight off the Process. Along with her vocals, an unknown man is also inside the Transistor and he helps her through the adventure.

The gameplay was really different from anything I've played before. There is a strategic element where you have to plan your attacks out ahead of time, choosing which attacks to use and which enemies to hit. It becomes increasingly difficult, and you really have to be paying attention to get it right.

In terms of replaying the game, the likelihood is high. This is because you can choose to continue playing the game with the same levels you had at your last completion. Each replay is even more difficult than before, which can be fun.

All in all, I highly recommend this wonderful, beautiful game to anyone looking for a quick (first play through took less than eight hours for me) and entertaining time.
  
Dark Prophecy: A Box Set
Dark Prophecy: A Box Set
Kris Norris | 2019 | Erotica, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dark Prophecy Box Set by Kris Norris
The Dark Prophecy Box Set contains the three stories of the Dark Prophecy series. In it, we meet Rafe, Gabe, Mathias, and Gideon. All vampires, all charged with keeping a talisman safe... once they find it. Rafe is the first one, and he finds his talisman around the neck of Terryn. He is followed by Gabe and Mathias, and finally Gideon. Now, as you can imagine, all stories are similar in some respects, and yet different in others - which is very good when you are reading a box set. Terryn, Riley, and Genevieve are the three sassy heroines who keep our boys in check. They know nothing about the paranormal world, until they find out about their necklaces.

These books were just what I needed, and came at exactly the right time. There was enough story there to keep me involved, and yet it never went into too much detail that I felt I was drowning. There is enough steam to fill a bathroom, with a big dollop of insta-love that somehow seems to work! There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and the world-building was more than enough for these storylines. I am still left wanting more, which is such a good thing after reading three books back to back. I really hope to hear more from/about Sirus as he was a character that constantly intrigued me.

If you are looking for hot and steamy action, coupled with plenty of sass, and fighting the bad guys, then I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this book.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant #1)
Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant #1)
Deborah Garland | 2019 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant #1) by Deborah Garland
Drawing Bloodlines is the first book in The Princeton Allegiant, and we meet with Alexander, a young vampire of only five hundred years old or so. He is the doctor who draws the blood from our main female, Elizabeth, which is okay until she catches him drinking it.

The attraction between Alexander and Elizabeth is off the charts from the start, but I actually wished it wasn't for part of the book! Now, don't get me wrong, steam isn't a bad thing at all, but for me, it actually took away from some of the parts of the story. It all became about how often these two made the naughty, rather than anything else like, for example, maybe Alex could have told Elizabeth more of his history... say the part with Christiana in it?! I actually preferred this book once Alex was told he had to mate with Christiana, and Loren appeared on the scene. I felt there was more of a connection then, but maybe that's just me.

On the whole, this was a very good read, with plenty to get your teeth into (bad pun intended). I would love to read more about this world of Allegiants, and see how it works in greater detail. And, of course, find out more about the missing vampires. Oh, and hope Elijah gets his story!

There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and I have no hesitation in recommending this book. Excellent start to the series.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
The Cat Lady
The Cat Lady
2012 | Action/Adventure, Puzzle & Cards
Superb Artwork (5 more)
Brilliant soundtrack
Dark, gory and surreal
Interesting puzzle work
Multiple endings
Steam card and achievements
Not enough user interaction sometimes (1 more)
May not be suitable for those in vulnerable mental health states
A dark, twisted journey into mental illness
The Cat Lady really surprised me. The dark, almost minimal, graphics styles led me to believe this wasn't going to be much of a horror game but how wrong I was. This game has a way of sucking you in and chewing you up, then spitting you out as a glob of emotionally affected goop.

The story follows a female protagonist, Susan Ashworth. She's alone and on the verge of suicide, constantly questioning the worth of her existence. After a significant event, she meets an odd woman who sets her on a journey to meet 5 very dark people who may change her outlook on life....for better or worse. Who can she trust, if anyone at all?

I would recommend that if you suffer from mental illness, suicidal thoughts or if you have issues with emotional triggers then you either don't play this or you play with others (unless you know you're in a good place). While the game IS a basic point and click, it still deals with a LOT of mental health issues; some of the scenes were hard even for me, and I consider myself in a good place mentally right now.

Overall I was seriously impressed with this game, it took me 11 hrs to play but that was including distractions and just leaving the game sitting while I did things, so I maybe got about 8 hrs of straight play. Indie horror point and clicks are so rare and this one is an example for the entire genre.
  
Duck Soup (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
1933 | Classics, Comedy, War
8
8.7 (12 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Decent Story Held Back By Too Many Confusing Plot Points
In Duck Soup, a wealthy widow offers aid to a struggling country on the condition they make a chaotic idiot their leader.

Acting: 10

Beginning: 10

Characters: 10
Main character Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is absolutely hilarious. He has quips for days and he’s always doing something to liven up a scene. The other characters, while good, get lost in the greatness of his funny antics.

Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Numerous setpieces abound here which keeps the movie fresh. The movies’s consistent change of scenery and large visual spectacles propels Duck Soup to almost passable heights. I can appreciate a movie with a constant change of pace, especially older films.

Conflict: 3
I spent a decent amount of this movie trying to figure out just what exactly was going on. The conflict never seemed strong enough for me to think the stakes were worth it. It was clear the focus was more on the comedy aspect rather than driving the story.

Entertainment Value: 8

Memorability: 3

Pace: 10

Plot: 7

Resolution: 5
The ending was meh and that’s me being generous. It was essentially a compounding of the story as a whole which totally lost steam for me towards the back half of the movie. it felt like, by the time we reach the end, the writer forgot what initially made the story great in the first place.

Overall: 76
When you don’t really know what’s going on right off the nose, it makes it hard to settle into the story. Duck Soup does a lot of things rights. However, a solid main character and grandiose scenes aren’t quite enough to mask the fact that the movie falls just shy of being good. Not terrible, but definitely not great.